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Magic lost because Van Gundy hit panic button
The Magic more than likely threw away an NBA title Thursday night, but only the blind and foolish would blame Superman.
Stan Van Gundy is responsible for one of the greatest choke jobs in NBA playoff history. If he had any pride, he'd resign today and let Patrick Ewing coach Game 5 on Sunday.
We all owe Shaq O'Neal an apology. Van Panic crashed Game 4, hand-delivering the Lakers a backbreaking overtime victory and a 3-1 series advantage.
No doubt, if Howard knocks down one of two free throws with 11 seconds to play, the Magic win the game. I'm sorry. I can live with Howard's misses. He's a 59 percent free throw shooter. There's no reason to expect him to make free throws at crunch time.
This game turned on one decision.
Jameer Nelson had no business on the court. None.
Van Gundy's decision to bench Rafer Alston throughout the fourth quarter (and overtime) in favor of Nelson is the dumbest big-game coaching decision I've ever seen.
Don't be fooled by the ridiculous commentary offered by Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy during ABC's broadcast. Nelson made two elementary passes to Howard in the fourth quarter and Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy pretended that Magic Johnson, Bob Cousy, Isiah Thomas and John Stockton had all suited up for Orlando in the fourth quarter.
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| Derek Fisher got the jump on Jameer Nelson and crushed Orlando's hopes. (Chris Greythen / Getty Images) |
Jackson had the audacity to coo that Nelson was "carrying" the Magic.
Nelson carried the Magic straight to hell.
He missed defensive rotations. He orchestrated back-to-back horrible offensive possessions at the end of the third quarter. He failed to locate and deliver the ball to Dwight Howard in the low post.
And with five seconds left in regulation, he stood foolishly underneath the three-point line and let Derek Fisher walk into a game-tying three.
Stan Van Gundy needs his ass beat.
Forty eight hours after Rafer Alston played a gigantic role in securing Orlando's first-ever NBA Finals victory, Van Panic played a hunch that his four-months-inactive point guard could handle 19 minutes of continuous playoff action.
Nelson checked into the game with about 90 seconds left in the third quarter and never left the court until the Lakers had secured an eight-point overtime victory.
Inside the NBA
It's a simple rule of athletics: Fatigue turns players into cowards.
Nelson didn't challenge Fisher at the three-point line because Nelson was too damn tired.
Until his unexpected and mediocre play in this series, Nelson hadn't played in an NBA game since Feb. 2. He was hurt.
Thursday night he was clueless. He played like an inexperienced point guard who hadn't been in critical end-game situations since February.
I'm not a Rafer Alston fan as a starter. As I wrote before Thursday's game, Rafer is childish. Fisher has put a clown suit on Alston with turnover-free play and sound decision-making on every possession.
But Rafer is the best the Magic have for this series. You die with Rafer Alston. You live with his hot and cold streaks until next season when Nelson is healthy and in rhythm. Alston was good enough to beat the Cavaliers, the team with the best record this season. Alston was good enough to beat the Lakers in Game 3.
Alston's 17 minutes in the first half of Game 4 were good enough for the Magic to build a 12-point lead.
When asked why he played Nelson over Alston, Van Gundy acknowledged that Nelson didn't give the Magic anything. Van Gundy said he stuck with Nelson because the group he had on the floor in the fourth regained the lead and because it reached a point when Alston had sat too long.
It's all bull(manure). Van Gundy played Nelson on a freaking hunch.
Insecure coaches play freaking hunches and pray that they get lucky. They're like bad gamblers.
Now what?
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Rafer Alston has every reason to go into the tank. I wouldn't blame him if he quit and refused to play on Sunday. Seriously. He has no reason to ever trust Van Gundy again.
Alston bails the Magic out at the end of the regular season, throughout the playoffs and turns in a clutch performance in Game 3, and Van Gundy turns Game 4 over to the point guard who scored one bucket and turned the ball over three times in 11 minutes in Orlando's lone Finals victory.
Shaq is somewhere laughing his ass off. He's cracking up listening to broadcasters lie about how courageous, resilient and great the Lakers are.
Kobe is great and the Lakers are experienced. That's it. Game 4 proved it.
Orlando played terribly Thursday night, turning the ball over 19 times and missing 15 free throws. To think the Magic were in position to tie this series with 11 seconds left in regulation.
I've given up on Orlando. I was wrong about the Magic winning this series. I was right about Orlando being the better team.
You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at ballstate0@aol.com.
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